‘Summer went pretty well’ for La Salle-Peru

The La Salle-Peru football team is looking to sustain its recent success entering the 2022 season.

In 2019, the Cavaliers earned their first playoff berth in a decade then followed that up with a 5-0 spring 2021 season.

Last season, L-P went 5-5 and qualified for the postseason again.

The Cavs graduated quite a bit from last year’s team, including honorable mention all-state linebacker Chris Swayne, their top four rushers, including quarterback Sean Whitfield, running backs Matt Carico and running back/receiver Tre’von Hunter and fellow All-Kishwaukee River/Interstate 8 All-Conference picks Aidan VanDuzer (lineman) and Will Daugherty (defensive end).

However, eighth-year coach Jose Medina was pleased with the efforts the Cavs put in this summer in the weight room and during two 7-on-7s and camp the last week of July.

“I think the kids came in and worked hard,” Medina said. “We’ve gotten better and we’ve corrected some mistakes. We’ve had pretty good attendance, which is the key. You need all those guys here to make a practice work and to make sure they’re prepared for the season. I think, all in all, the summer went pretty well.”

Linebacker Antonio Rodriguez, a returning starter, said the Cavs have a positive mindset after the summer.

“We feel confident,” Rodriguez said. “We definitely can still keep working. We’re not going to slow up, but we feel confident. We’ll keep grinding this season and hopefully it goes good for us.”

Offensively, the Cavs will once again be run heavy, but Medina said some changes were made up front over the summer.

L-P averaged 217.6 rushing yards per game last season but struggled down the stretch, averaging 129.7 yards on the ground over the final three games – including a 42-0 loss to Morris in the first round of the playoffs – while scoring only 20 points over those three games.

“Once again, we need to establish that run game,” Medina said. “We tweaked some things a little bit, so hopefully that gives us a little more production in the running game.

“We changed up the blocking scheme. That’s the biggest one, but it boils down to those guys up front firing off the ball and establishing that line of scrimmage. I think we have a solid group there.”

Nik Belski, who has offers from FCS and Division II schools, and Creed McCormick are back to anchor the offensive line.

“We’ve worked on our steps,” Belski said. “We’ve been talking more. We’ve been working to get better at getting into our blocks and our assignments. If we get our assignments down, we can move that ball.”

Defensively, the Cavs spent the summer looking to fill the voids left by graduation.

“We made a lot of progress [this summer],” Rodriguez said. “The kids who are new to it, they’re learning a lot. They’re competing for the spots, so I think it’s going to be good. We’re getting help from our coaches. We’re asking questions, so we should be set on defense.”

Communication was a point of emphasis for L-P defensively this summer.

“Defensively, communication is the biggest thing,” Medina said. “We have a lot of kids who get after it and are aggressive, but communication is the one thing that I think we needed to focus on and I think [Friday] was the best day for that. They called out the formations, really understood what was going on and really got after it.”

After the IHSA mandated dead week the first week of August, the Cavs open official practices Aug. 8.

L-P opens the season at 7 p.m. Aug. 26 at Howard Fellows Stadium against United Township.